Defining borders of present day Israel
Prior to the declaration of Israel in 1948, the UN proposed a United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine based on the location of land legally purchased [1] and used to create Jewish Settlements in the area.
The cartography of Israel is the history of surveying and methods of creation of maps that have modern Israel, and the ancient Kingdom of Israel (Samaria).
Prior to the declaration of Israel in 1948, the UN proposed a United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine based on the location of land legally purchased [1] and used to create Jewish Settlements in the area.
In October 2023, internet users noticed "the name Israel no longer appears on leading local digital maps services such as Baidu or Alibaba". [2] Sources report that major cities are still defined as well as the borders that define present-day Israel and Palestinian territories, but not the name itself. [3] WION (World Is One News) reported that it is because 'Chinese internet is getting inundated with antisemitism following the Israel-Hamas war'. [4]
Samaria is the Hellenized form of the Hebrew name Shomron, used as a historical and biblical name for the central region of Israel, bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The region is known to the Palestinians in Arabic under two names, Samirah, and Mount Nablus.
The Judea and Samaria Area is an administrative division administered by the state of Israel. It encompasses the entire West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967, but excludes East Jerusalem. Its area is split into 165 Palestinian "islands" that are under total or partial civil administration by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), and a contiguous area containing 230 Israeli settlements into which Israeli law is "pipelined".
Umm Khalid, also called Mukhalid, was a Palestinian village in the Tulkarm Subdistrict, 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) west of Tulkarm. It was an ancient site in the central coastline of what is now the city of Netanya, Israel.
Jabalia, also spelled Jabalya, is a city in Palestine located 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) north of Gaza City, in the North Gaza Governorate of the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Jabalia had a population of 172,704 in 2017. The Jabalia refugee camp is adjacent to the city to the north. The nearby town of Nazla is a part of the Jabalia municipality. The city is currently under the operational control of IDF's 162nd Division.
The Palestine Exploration Fund is a British society based in London. It was founded in 1865, shortly after the completion of the Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem by Royal Engineers of the War Department. The Fund is the oldest known organization in the world created specifically for the study of the Levant region, also known as Palestine. Often simply known as the PEF, its initial objective was to carry out surveys of the topography and ethnography of Ottoman Palestine – producing the PEF Survey of Palestine. Its remit was considered to fall between an expeditionary survey and military intelligence gathering. There was also strong religious interest from Christians; William Thomson, Archbishop of York, was the first President of the PEF.
The Israel Antiquities Authority is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservation, and promotes research. The Director-General is Mr. Eli Escusido, and its offices are housed in the Rockefeller Museum.
A historical atlas is a collection of maps and possibly illustrations that depict the historical geography of a particular region at a defined time period. These atlases typically include maps that show the political and cultural boundaries of different states as well as other data, and in some cases illustrations that provide information about important historical events and figures. They may also include timelines, charts, and other information to help readers understand the historical context of the maps. Historical atlases are used by scholars, students, and general readers to study and learn about the past.
The International Cartographic Association (ICA) is an organization formed of national member organizations, to provide a forum for issues and techniques in cartography and geographic information science (GIScience). ICA was founded on June 9, 1959, in Bern, Switzerland. The first General Assembly was held in Paris in 1961. The mission of the International Cartographic Association is to promote the disciplines and professions of cartography and GIScience in an international context. To achieve these aims, the ICA works with national and international governmental and commercial bodies, and with other international scientific societies.
Barbara was a Palestinian Arab village in the Gaza Subdistrict located 17 km northeast of Gaza city, in the vicinity of modern Ashkelon. It had an entirely Arab population of 2,410 in 1945. The village consisted of nearly 14,000 dunums of which approximately 12,700 dunums was able to be cultivated. It was captured by Israel during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
Sebastia is a Palestinian village of about 3,205 inhabitants, located in the Nablus Governorate of the State of Palestine, some 12 kilometers northwest of the city of Nablus.
Surif is a Palestinian City in the Hebron Governorate located 25 km northwest of the city of Hebron. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics census, Surif had a population of 17,287 in 2017. The population is entirely Muslim.
An-Naqura is a Palestinian village in the Nablus Governorate in northern West Bank, located 10 kilometers northwest of Nablus and adjacent to the Israeli settlement of Shavei Shomron. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) census, the village had a population of 1,545 in 2007 and 1,786 in 2017. An-Naqura is administered by a ten-member village council headed by Muhammad Hashish.
Jalqamus is a Palestinian village in the West Bank, located 10 km southeast of the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 1,867 inhabitants in mid-year 2006 and 2,624 by 2017.
Tarqumiyah is a Palestinian city located 12 kilometers northwest of Hebron, in the southern West Bank, in the Hebron Governorate of the State of Palestine. The city had a population of 19,311 in 2017.
Al-Jaladiyya was a Palestinian Arab village in the Gaza Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on July 8, 1948, by the Giv'ati Brigade. It was located 34 kilometres northeast of Gaza.
Sarafand al-Kharab was a Palestinian Arab village in the Ramle Subdistrict, located 50 meters (160 ft) above sea level, 7 kilometers (4.3 mi) west of Ramla, in the area that is today northeast of Ness Ziona.
Survey of Israel - SOI is the survey and mapping department of the Israeli Ministry of Housing and Construction. It is the successor of the Survey Department of Palestine, which existed in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and 1948.
The Land of Israel is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definitions of the limits of this territory vary between passages in the Hebrew Bible, with specific mentions in Genesis 15, Exodus 23, Numbers 34 and Ezekiel 47. Nine times elsewhere in the Bible, the settled land is referred as "from Dan to Beersheba", and three times it is referred as "from the entrance of Hamath unto the brook of Egypt".
The cartography of the region of Palestine, also known as cartography of the Holy Land and cartography of the Land of Israel, is the creation, editing, processing and printing of maps of the region of Palestine from ancient times until the rise of modern surveying techniques. For several centuries during the Middle Ages it was the most prominent subject in all of cartography, and it has been described as an "obsessive subject of map art".
The Survey of Palestine was the government department responsible for the survey and mapping of Palestine during the British mandate period.
Media related to Israel at Wikimedia Commons Media related to Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) at Wikimedia Commons